Do you think Andy will be able to get direct entry into all the Slams next year? If he carries on like this surely his ranking will go down. Is there any danger of him falling back into challenger events and not being able to play in Slams at all? Im worried that if this does happen, we may never see him again! Surely he isnt just another jeremy Bates/Petchey etc who enter the top 100 for a year, then disappear?
If he goes out in Queens and Wimbledon first round will he drop out of the top 50 or 60?
If he goes out in Queens and Wimbledon first round will he drop out of the top 50 or 60?
Thats depends very heavily on the results of the people around Andy in the rankings. The points for Queens have fallen off this week, to find out where Andy will finish after the French look at the relevant thread in 'Andy's ranking'. It is highly unlikely he will fall out of the top 50 this time (although technically possible I would seriously advise you not to bet on it!).
This means that any points from Queens are effectively 'free' points. However, with an 18th score of 16 Andy's needs to reach the third round to gain any points. Unfortunately, that week will also be 'free' points for most of his competitors as well. I doubt Queens will make much of a change to Andy's ranking either way unless he was to reach the quarters at the least.
Wimbledon on the other hand is an entirely different matter. Andy will be defending 75 points and so must reach at least the third round to avoid losing points. When it comes to ranking places however it depends on how many points those around him are defending. Falling out of the top 60 if he loses first round is not inconceiveable but until I've set up the spreadsheet I couldn't tell you how likely it is. Once again I would suggest you follow the Andy's ranking threads for more detail.
I don't think Andy will lose direct entry to grand slams next year, he has just gone through a bad period, as all players do. And even if he did drop out of the top 120 or so I cannot believe he won't return. He has the talent and the desire, it just may take a few years to fulfil his potential, after all he is only 19 still and not yet fully grown or developed physically.
Sorry that was such a long winded response but the ranking system isn't the simplest of things!
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